Death Classification: Line of Duty Death

Agency: Chicago Park District Police Department

Served: 13 years*

Unit of Assignment / Detail: Motorcycle Division

District of Incident (Present Day): 019 - Town Hall

Cause of Death: Crash - Motorcycle

Age at Time of Death: 42

Timeline


Date of Birth: 17 Mar 1904

Date of Appointment: 1933

Date of Incident: 019 - Town Hall

End of Watch: 07 Nov 1946

Date of Interment: 11 Nov 1946

 

Interment Details


 Cemetery: Irving Park Cemetery - Chicago, Illinois
 Grave Location: Unknown
 Interment Disposition: Burial

 

Memorial Details


Superintendent’s Honored Star Case: Panel # D-2

Gold Star Families Memorial Wall: Panel # 22

Illinois Police Officers Memorial Wall: Panel # 2, Line 45

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall: Panel # 63-E: 5

Officer Down Memorial Page: Listed

 

Service


 Military Service: No Military Record Found

 

Incident & Biographic Details


Park Policeman Robert Ellsworth Oman, Star #188, aged 42 years, was a 13 year veteran of the Chicago Park District Police Department, assigned to the Motorcycle Division.

On November 7, 1946, Officer Oman was driving his police motorcycle on the 4100 block of North Marine Drive. In an attempt to avoid a collision with another vehicle, his motorcycle skidded over a patch of gravel. According to Frederick West, a psychology professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology witnessed Oman’s motorcycle leave the roadway and overturn. Officer Oman was thrown from the motorcycle and sustained a fractured skull. He was transported to American Hospital where he was pronounced dead on November 7, 1946.

Officer Oman was waked at a Lakeview Funeral Home located at 1458 West Belmont Avenue. He was laid to rest on November 11, 1946 in Irving Park Cemetery, 7777 West Irving Park Road, Chicago, Illinois.

Park Policeman Robert Ellsworth Oman, born March 17, 1904, received his Probationary Appointment to the Lincoln Park District Police Department in 1933. He was laterally transferred to the Chicago Park District Police Department upon the consolidation of park districts on May 1, 1934.

Officer Oman was a Master Mason and a member of Hesperia Lodge No. 411 AF&AM. He was survived by his wife, Jeanette (nee Todtleben), age 34; children: Florence Darlene, age 2 and Jacqueline Marie, age 11; parents: Ada (nee Johnson) and John and siblings: Douglas, Donald, Dorothy Orr, Harriet Recklin, Lloyd and Marcel. He was preceded in death by his sister, Darlene Pfelfer.

The Chicago Park District Police Department, in the City of Chicago, was disbanded on December 31, 1957. On January 1, 1958, the remaining officers were transferred to the Chicago Police Department through an intergovernmental agreement. Fallen Officer of the Chicago Park District Police Department are currently honored on the memorial wall of the Chicago Police Department as Chicago Police Officers. Their stars are displayed in the Superintendent’s Honored Star Case located in the lobby of the Chicago Police Department at 3510 South Michigan Avenue.